It is now becoming common to use a PC or other general purpose computing device to generate and print postage onto an envelope. The above-identified patent application is an example of the generation of postage from word processing or other application programs running on a PC.
In such systems, a general purpose printer is used to print the postage. The printer operates from a data stream provided by the PC which in turn is working in cooperation with a postage storage and control device. A user creates a document, for example, a letter, using a word processing application program. Contained within the letter is address information which the word processor abstracts and then communicates to a postage generation program (either part of the word processing program or separate therefrom). The postage generation program then accesses a secure memory and creates a postage indicia, part of which contains a digital signal (or other authentication mechanism), and then this indicia data stream is communicated to the general purpose printer. The printer then prints the indicia on an envelope together with the address information for the envelope. In one embodiment of the existing system the secure memory and its control processors are located in the communication path between the PC and the printer.
In operation, the user must first send a data stream to control the printing of the letter and then the user, or the system operating for the user, must send data to the printer to print the address and postage on the envelope or on the label. This typically requires two distinct functions, each controlled by the PC. In addition, at times there is a need to create a window envelope insert, containing the address and/or postage indicia. Again, this requires two separate operations unless the separate insert is made a part of the letter “file” in the PC.
Thus, it is desired to further automate the printing/handling process of material printed by general purpose printers to eliminate as many steps as possible a user must take to print and subsequently process the printed material.
It is further desired to automate the mailing process by automating as many steps in the process as possible.